Haminoea natalensis (Krauss, 1848)

Description

A small haminoeid bubble snail with a shell length of 5–14 mm. The body bears a dense mottling of small brownish to greenish dots over a pale ground colour, and conspecific specimens from the same locality may show considerable colour variation (Tibiriçá & Malaquias 2017 illustrated two distinct colour morphs from a single site). The cephalic shield is deeply bilobed. The thin, semitransparent shell is enclosed within the mantle, as in other Haminoeidae.

Distribution

Type locality: Natal, South Africa. The original description (Krauss 1848) was based on South African material. Subsequent records extend the species across the Indo-West Pacific — Hawaii (Kay 1979 as Haminoea crocata; Gosliner et al. 2008), Papua New Guinea and the Philippines (Gosliner et al. 2008) — and the Western Indian Ocean — Mauritius and the Seychelles (Bergh 1901), Madagascar (Gosliner 1987; Gosliner et al. 2008), Mozambique (Bergh 1901; Gosliner 1987; Tibiriçá & Malaquias 2017), and South Africa (Bergh 1901; Kilburn and Rippey 1982; Gosliner 1987; Gosliner et al. 2008).

Etymology

The specific epithet natalensis means "of Natal", in reference to the type locality on the southeastern coast of South Africa.

Remarks

Animals occur in tropical and subtropical tidal reefs between roughly 0.3 and 3 m depth and are active at night. Preliminary molecular work mentioned by Tibiriçá & Malaquias (2017) suggests that several cryptic species may be hidden under the name H. natalensis in the Indo-West Pacific; the true extent of this species' distribution will therefore likely be revised as genetic and morphological data become integrated.

---

References

• Bulla natalensis, Krauss C.F. (1848). Die Südafrikanischen Mollusken. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Mollusken des Kap- und Natallandes und zur geographischen Verbreitung derselben, mit Beschreibung und Abbildung der neuen Arten. Ebner & Seubert, Stuttgart. 140 pp., 6 pls.
• Haminoea natalensis, Tibiriçá Y. & Malaquias M.A.E. (2017). The bubble snails (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) of Mozambique: an overlooked biodiversity hotspot. Marine Biodiversity. 47(3): 791-811. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0500-7
• Haminoea natalensis, Oskars T.R., Too C.C., Rees D., Mikkelsen P.M., Willassen E. & Malaquias M.A.E. (2019). A molecular phylogeny of the gastropod family Haminoeidae sensu lato (Heterobranchia: Cephalaspidea): a generic revision. Invertebrate Systematics 33(3): 426-472.